‘We have no problem with Annan’s messages’

FOREIGN Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides said yesterday that UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan had conveyed four messages to the leaders of the two sides during his visit earlier in the week.

Cassoulides said Annan had told the leaders of the need to speed up the ongoing talks, to insist on the time-frame of June, to abandon unproductive discussions and focus on the fundamental principles, and to take advantage of the presence of his Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto.The Foreign Minister said the Greek Cypriot side had “no problem” accepting any of these messages. But he said it was up to Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to show whether he would respond to them, during the direct talks with President Glafcos Clerides.

“There is a window of opportunity that will close by autumn and even if Denktash continues to have the same positions, Cyprus will proceed at full speed to join the EU,” Cassoulides said.When he left the island on Thursday after a two-day visit, the first by a UN Secretary-general in 23 years, Annan said he told the leaders they could resolve the four core issues of the Cyprus problem by the end of June if they really wanted to.

 

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